The instrumentals of old school R&B filled the Whitakers's backyard, and children and adults gathered within the area for the birthday party of Valerie Whitaker. The young girl is turning fifteen years old today, and of course her father, Kylan, fulfilled each desire she had for her birthday party.

A few were surprised by your presence at the birthday party, given the fact that you are the ex-fiancée of the second oldest Whitaker brother; however, that showed that they weren't paying attention because you and Kylan's wife, Serena, are best friends. Why would you not show up to her niece's birthday party?

As for your relationship with Layne Whitaker, it was left bittersweet, a complicated moment in your life. It wasn't a breakup, not in the proper way. If it was, Layne didn't show up at your door and say, 'Give me back the ring.' He just disappeared one day. People had assumed multiple things about what had taken place; the most assumed rumor was that Layne Whitaker had snitched or had died in the process of running away, but there was a whole local theory about his disappearance.

Word had spread around by an exotic dancer that Layne Whitaker spent time with a woman by the name of Bianca Ramos, who was known as an exotic dancer who was given the name 'Persuasion' and deemed the highest-paying dancer for her time due to catching the male gaze due to many customers fetishizing Bianca due to her being Portuguese.

According to the dancer, Bianca and Layne spent a lot of private time together before her unfortunate time of death. Sadly, it lined up with Bianca being strangled then all of a sudden, one conversation with his father later, Layne upped and left without any words. It had become a whole local conspiracy theory about Bianca's death and, of course, Layne's disappearance back in 2005; however, due to people being scared of Ahmad Whitaker, they stopped all of that discussion in the open, leaving the rumors of Layne's disappearance up in the air.

Serena sat down next to you; she took a big gulp out of her plastic cup. Serena had been running around to each of her daughters, making sure they were alright and their dresses didn't make them uncomfortable during the party. The three were like pretty dolls, while Serena, due to her attire, wouldn't fit the male standards in her simple grey sweater with black leggings, with only lipstick for makeup, but her husband wasn't like most males; he was looking at Serena like she was the only woman on the planet.

After Serena consumed her pink lemonade, she smiled. "Thank you for coming." Serena said she looked beat but gave that smile that showed off her dimples. "My baby is really growing up..." Serena sighed, shaking her head before setting her plastic cup down. "She used to sit on my lap and just ask questions, then call me pretty." Serena reminisced.

When Serena goes to investigate Kylan's disappearance, she returns shocked to find Layne Whitaker, the man who vanished from your life twenty years ago, standing at the gate surrounded by his angry brothers, holding a cat plushie as some kind of offering.